Department for Transport

Railway Stations: Calderdale

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent representations he has received from Calderdale Council on the construction of a new rail station at Elland.

Claire Perry: We are aware of aspirations for a new station at Elland but have not received any representations about it from Calderdale Council. The promotion of any new station is a matter for the relevant local transport authority, in this case West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

Railway Stations: Calderdale

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent representations he has received from Calderdale Council on the construction of a new rail station at Hipperholme.

Claire Perry: We are aware of aspirations for a new station at Hipperholme but have not received any representations about it from Calderdale Council. The promotion of any new station is a matter for the relevant local transport authority, in this case West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

Railway Signals

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 June 2016 to Question 39089, on railway signals, what the scope of work covered by the installation programme is for the (a) Wales and (b) Romford Rail Operating Centre.

Claire Perry: The scope of works covered by the installation programme at the two Rail Operating Centres includes:procurement & installation of hardware and softwaretraining simulatormaintenance supportinterface with train control

Pedestrians: Accidents

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the increase in pedestrian fatalities between 2013 and 2014.

Andrew Jones: The Reported Road Casualties in Great Britain: Main Results 2014 statistical report (available at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/438040/reported-road-casualties-in-great-britain-main-results-2014-release.pdf) provides some analysis relating to this topic. Every death is one too many. However, in terms of a statistical analysis, the specific conclusions outlined in the report are that, despite the rise of pedestrian fatalities in 2014, the increase is unlikely to be statistically significant. This means that the increase is more likely to be explained by natural variation between years in the figures. This type of pattern is typical for rare events (such as the very low number of fatalities per mile walked in Britain) in that the numbers are likely to change between years to a certain degree without having an underlying cause. The Department’s estimates indicate that the change observed was within this expected range.There was also some evidence that the number of fatalities of pedestrians aged 60 or over in 2013 was unusually low. Therefore the increase in fatalities could have been driven by the value returning to the expected or normal level. This is a common phenomenon known as ‘regression to the mean’ – i.e. that any abnormally large change in statistics (in this case, a sudden decrease in pedestrian fatalities aged 60 or over) will revert back to the normal level after some time.Although the provisional figures for the year ending September 2015 do not include pedestrian fatalities specifically, the estimate for the number of pedestrians killed or seriously injured (KSI casualties) was 4 per cent lower than for the year ending September 2014. If this is proved true in the final figures for 2015 it will support the hypothesis that there was no identifiable cause for the increase between 2013 and 2014.

Cycling: Finance

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2016 to Question 39159, what the figures for his Department's spending on cycling programmes in each year to 2021 are in real terms.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Programme2016/172017/182018/192019/202020/21Total  Cycling£m£m£m£m£m£m  Real term spending£185.20£199.56£115.07£87.98£54.41£642.23We have applied the GDP deflator rates to the figures that were provided in response to the original PQ 37870. It should be noted that the future years GDP deflator rates are estimates only. Note that the above totals include sums from within current Local Growth Fund allocations. Not all of the Local Growth Fund is currently allocated, so as future allocations of the Local Growth Fund are made to Local Enterprise Partnerships, the amount supporting cycling projects through to 2020/21 is likely to rise. In addition to the totals above, from within the record £6 billion allocated to local highways authorities between 2015 and 2021 for road maintenance, this funding can help maintain footways and cycleways.

Walking: Finance

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2016 to Question 39160, what the figures for his Department's spending on walking programmes in each year to 2021 are in real terms.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Programme2016/172017/182018/192019/202020/21Total  Walking£m£m£m£m£m£m Real term spending£97.00£88.45£67.01£42.10£21.60£316.16We have applied the GDP deflator rates to the figures that were provided in response to the original PQ 37869. It should be noted that the future years GDP deflator rates are estimates only. Note that the above totals include sums from within current Local Growth Fund allocations. Not all of the Local Growth Fund is currently allocated, so as future allocations of the Local Growth Fund are made to Local Enterprise Partnerships, the amount supporting walking projects through to 2020/21 is likely to rise. In addition to the totals above, from within the record £6 billion allocated to local highways authorities between 2015 and 2021 for road maintenance, this funding can help maintain footways and cycleways.

Bus Services: Standards

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the timeliness of bus services across England and Wales in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones: Bus punctuality data for England are collected and managed by local authorities, and published by the Department for Transport in online statistical tables. Not all local authorities collect bus punctuality data. The Department does not collect or publish bus punctuality data for Wales. The Department publishes two measures of bus punctuality for frequent and non-frequent bus services. A frequent service is one that has six or more buses per hour. For frequent services, statistics are only available for some local authorities in table BUS0903, available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/463885/bus0903.xls. An England-wide figure is not available. The proportion of non-frequent bus services in England running on-time is published in table BUS0902, available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/463884/bus0902.xls. The latest statistics show that in 2014/15, 83% of non-frequent services across England ran on-time compared with 81% in 2010/11. ‘On-time’ is defined as one between 1 minute early and 5 minutes 59 seconds late.

Railways: Standards

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the punctuality of railway services across England and Wales in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: The Department closely monitors the punctuality of rail services across England and Wales, and holds regular meetings with industry partners during which this issue is discussed. Punctuality across the network as a whole has fallen over the last five years, although six Train Operating Companies have either improved or maintained their performance levels during that period. We are investing record sums in the network to improve services for passengers, and although inevitably there is a risk of some temporary disruption while these major schemes are being implemented, we have made clear to the industry that we expect them to do all they can to improve the situation.

Bus Services: Disability

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will bring before the House legislative proposals on requiring bus companies to instal audio-visual technology to aid visually impaired passengers.

Andrew Jones: I know that accessible on-board information can give a range of passengers the confidence to use bus services, safe in the knowledge that they will know when to alight. Previously, the systems to provide such information have been expensive to fit and maintain, but I understand that new technology may make it more affordable. We are currently considering the most appropriate next steps, but in the meantime I encourage bus operators to consider the benefits of better, more accessible information for all their customers.

Heathrow Airport

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to assess the potential cost of relocating the Lakeside Energy from Waste Facility in the event of a decision being made to permit the construction of the North West Runway at Heathrow Airport.

Mr Robert Goodwill: On 14 December 2015, the Government formally announced that it accepted the case for airport expansion in the South-East and agreed with the Airports Commission’s shortlist of options. The Government also decided to undertake a package of further work which it anticipates will conclude over the summer. This has included further work to help develop the best possible package of measures for all the shortlisted schemes to mitigate the impacts on local people and the environment.  The decision on a preferred scheme is of huge importance and the Government continues to consider the detailed analysis contained in the Airports Commission’s final report before taking any decisions on next steps. The costs associated with the Lakeside Energy from Waste Plant were considered in the Airports Commission’s assessment of land acquisition costs in the report “Cost and Commercial Viability: Cost and Revenue Identification Update Heathrow Airport North West Runway”.  Decisions have not yet been taken on a preferred scheme. However, if the Government was minded to support the North-West runway at Heathrow, the planning and costs of moving the Energy from Waste Plant would be a matter for the airport to take forward with the owners of the site.

Driving Tests: Waiting Lists

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average waiting time is for a driving test appointment (a) in England, (b) at the Halifax test centre and (c) at the Huddersfield test centre.

Andrew Jones: The average waits for a practical car driving test appointment in (a) England and (b) at Halifax test centre and (c) at Huddersfield test centre are as follows: England – 12 weeks Halifax driving test centre – 18 weeks Huddersfield driving test centre – 17 weeks The main cause of current high practical driving test waiting times across the country is a significant and sustained surge in demand for driving tests. The last time there was demand at such high levels was in 2005/6. To help address the demand, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) 2015/16 recruitment campaigns resulted in 193 new examiners starting work at test centres across Britain. A further 48 examiners have started testing since April 2016, and DVSA has made employment offers to an additional 110 people, who are currently either attending the new entrant training course, or waiting to attend one.  The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) also deploys driving examiners between test centres accordingly to help balance variations in demand for tests. Resources have been pooled between Huddersfield, Halifax, Steeton and Skipton, and the DVSA is currently using resource from Huddersfield and Halifax to help service demand at Steeton and Skipton.. There are five new entrant examiners currently attending training who, if successful, will be deployed into Steeton and Skipton. This will have the knock on effect of helping to reduce waiting times at both the Halifax and Huddersfield test centres.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Kingston upon Hull City Council

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Oral Answer of 6 June 2016, Official Report, column 825, what the source is for the comments attributed to the Leader of Hull City Council.

Greg Clark: Holding answer received on 14 June 2016



The source was the Hull Daily Mail on the 4th February 2016. The full article can be found through the following link:http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Hull-people-happy-UK-average-official-statistics/story-28672567-detail/story.html

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Brazil: Olympic Games

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Brazilian government on ensuring adequate security for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Mr Hugo Swire: I refer my hon. Friend to my answer of 29 May given in response to PQ 38251.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Counterfeit Manufacturing: Domestic Appliances

Yvonne Fovargue: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness of the dangers of purchasing counterfeit electrical goods.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Holding answer received on 06 June 2016



The Intellectual Property Office does not undertake any awareness raising activities that specifically highlight the dangers of purchasing counterfeit electrical goods. The Intellectual Property Office works with partners including trading standards, Border Force and industry on a range of initiatives to tackle IP crime. . These initiatives include outreach campaigns aimed at consumers and workplaces, as well as enforcement action and support for businesses. They are not however focused on counterfeit electrical goods in isolation.

Counterfeit Manufacturing: Domestic Appliances

Yvonne Fovargue: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what meetings he has had with (a) Amazon, (b) eBay and (c) other online retailers on the prevention of the sale of counterfeit electrical goods in the UK.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Holding answer received on 06 June 2016



Details of Ministerial meetings, are published quarterly on gov.uk at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?keywords=ministerial+meetings&publication_filter_option=transparency-data&topics%5B%5D=all&departments%5B%5D=all&official_document_status=all&world_locations%5B%5D=all&from_date=&to_date=

Department for Education

Education: Assessments

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to close attainment gaps between the best and worst performing local authority areas as judged by GCSE and A Level results.

Nick Gibb: Our recent White Paper, ‘Educational Excellence Everywhere’, set out our intention to place a new focus on ‘Achieving Excellence Areas’ where too few children have access to a good school and there are insufficient high quality teachers, leaders, system leaders and sponsors. By doing this we will enable the school-led system to deliver rapid and sustainable improvement.We want to eradicate the pockets of underperformance in our school system and will do so by targeting the Department for Education’s programmes in the areas of greatest need. We intend to pilot this approach from September 2016.

Children in Care

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of young people who are cared for in (a) local authority-run and (b) private or voluntary sector children's homes in each local authority area.

Edward Timpson: The information requested is attached.



Looked_after_children_31_March_2015
(Excel SpreadSheet, 70 KB)

Special Educational Needs: Extended Schools

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many special needs schools offer (a) before-school care, (b) after-school care and (c) both before and after-school care in England; and what proportion of special needs schools each of those numbers represents.

Edward Timpson: This data was collected for the first time in the January 2016 school census. Later this year we will update the school performance tables and plan to publish alongside them information about all schools’ childcare provision including breakfast clubs. This will include information on all state funded and non-maintained special schools.

Schools: Vacancies

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how her Department collects the vacancy rates of individual (a) maintained schools and (b) academies.

Nick Gibb: The number of full-time vacant teaching posts in state funded schools (both maintained schools and academy schools) in England is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2014 The information is provided by schools as part of the annual School Workforce Census which is carried out in November each year. As part of this census, all state funded schools (maintained schools and academies) in England provide to the Department the number of vacant teaching posts that exist in November. The data is published in the following June. The following vacant posts, for all grades of teacher (classroom teacher to head teacher), should be reported by the school:Posts that are either vacant or are filled by a teacher on a contract of less than a term’s duration,Vacancies that the school has tried to fill but which were not filled on the November census day,Vacancies where an appointment has been made but the appointee was not in post on the census day. The following are excluded:Vacancies that did not become vacant until after the census day, for example, where a teacher has resigned but is serving notice. The vacancy rate is then calculated as the ratio of the number of vacant posts to the number of teaching posts.

Languages: Qualifications

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many foreign languages have been available at (a) GCSE and (b) A-Level in each of the last 10 years; and how many such languages will be available at both levels of examination in each of the next three academic years.

Nick Gibb: Full historical data about all qualifications (including GCSEs and A levels in modern foreign languages) and the respective dates when they were available to pupils across England are available at http://www.education.gov.uk/section96/download.shtml. The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) maintains a register of current, withdrawn and expired regulated qualifications and their operational start and end dates. The register includes qualifications available in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and is available at http://register.ofqual.gov.uk/. 19 modern foreign languages are available to students starting courses in September 2016. These are: Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Modern Greek, Gujarati, Modern Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Panjabi, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish and Urdu. Classical languages - classical Greek, Latin and Biblical Hebrew - are also available. We expect all of these, except Dutch, to continue to be available for students starting courses in September 2017 and September 2018.

Pupils: Bullying

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what funding her Department has allocated to schools in (a) Calderdale and (b) West Yorkshire to tackle bullying in the last (i) 12 months and (ii) five years.

Edward Timpson: The Government continues to make tackling all forms of bullying a top priority. All schools are required by law to have a behaviour policy with measures to tackle bullying among pupils. While they are free to develop their own anti-bullying strategies they are held clearly to account for their effectiveness through Ofsted. School funding to prevent and tackle bullying is part of their overall funding allocation, and is not separately identified at school or local authority level. In addition, the Department has directly funded a number of national anti-bullying organisations, supporting their work within schools across England to combat bullying. In 2015/16 we provided around £1.3 million to various anti-bullying charities including the Diana Award, Kidscape and the National Children’s Bureau (hosted by the Anti-bullying Alliance). These organisations train teachers and pupils in schools to prevent bullying and deal with its impact when it occurs so that bullied children do not suffer continuing distress. Additionally in the past 12 months we have supported the Government Equalities Office (GEO) to deliver a £2 million grant programme aimed at combatting homophobic bullying in schools. Between 2011 and 2016 we provided over £6.6 million to these and other charities to help them to support schools to support pupils who are bullied and to develop strategies to prevent bullying from happening. The Department and GEO will both be funding further projects this year.

Teachers: Resignations

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the number of teachers who have left that profession in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: Statistics showing the number of teachers that leave state funded schools in England in each year can be found in table c1b of the additional tables, available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2014 The total number of FTE teachers leaving in any one year includes those who are retiring, those moving to schools elsewhere in the UK, those moving to other education sectors (e.g. Independent schools or further education), those on maternity leave/career break (some of whom do return) and those leaving the profession. During the same period (2013 to 2014), 44,900 FTE teachers entered service in a state funded school. This is equivalent to 10.3% of teachers. The rate of entry of teachers has been higher than the rate of those leaving throughout the period of 2010 to 2014. In 2014, 14,100 FTE teachers returned to the profession. These statistics are sourced from the annual School Workforce Census and the next update is scheduled for June 30th 2016.

Teachers: Pay

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what comparative assessment she has made of trends in teachers' salaries and the average salary in the UK in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: On 4 December 2015, the Department published its most recent assessment of median teachers’ pay compared to that of graduates employed in the private sector in England. The pay of graduates in the private sector has been used because teaching is a graduate job and therefore provides a better comparator than an average of pay across all jobs in the UK economy. The comparative assessment was included in the evidence that government submitted to the School Teachers Review Body (STRB). The comparative assessment can be found in figure 11 on page 45 of the publication, available here:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/482257/STRB_government_evidence_2016_pay_award.pdf.

Teachers: Bureaucracy

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the extent of changes in the workload of teachers arising from the new Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 testing regime.

Nick Gibb: The removal of unnecessary workload is a priority for this Department and is considered carefully when introducing any significant change for schools. Our primary assessment reforms have been designed to put arrangements for the majority of classroom assessment back into the hands of the school and to reduce the tracking burdens that national curriculum levels previously encouraged. We believe schools are best placed to decide how to assess pupils in line with their curriculum and that over time this should lead to a reduction in workload for teachers. Following the introduction of the new national curriculum and the removal of levels, we have developed new forms of statutory assessment at the end of Key Stages 1 and 2. The duty to report assessment at these points remains unchanged from previous years. We do recognise, however, that in this first year of the new forms of assessment teachers will be adapting their approach. Significant reforms like take time to embed and the best way to prepare pupils remains to focus on teaching the core knowledge set by new national curriculum, which schools have been doing since September 2014. Throughout the introduction of our important reforms to primary assessment, we have worked closely with teachers and head teachers and continue to listen to the concerns of the profession as the details of the new arrangements are finalised. We are working constructively with the teaching profession and their representatives to find solutions to some of the remaining issues.

Ministry of Defence

Military Aircraft

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of aircraft in the Voyager surge fleet has been used by the Royal Air Force in each month since the first aircraft of that fleet was delivered.

Mr Philip Dunne: Voyager surge aircraft are owned by AirTanker Services Ltd and leased to civil airlines. No Voyager surge aircraft have been recalled to the military aircraft register for use by the Royal Air Force's Voyager Squadrons. However, there have been seven occasions when Civilian registered Voyager surge aircraft have been chartered for individual tasks to transport troops.

Ministry of Defence Police: Staff

Deidre  Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what changes his Department plans to make to the size of the workforce of the Ministry of Defence Police.

Mr Julian Brazier: The Department plans to recruit around 260 new police officers to the Ministry of Defence Police during the course of 2016-17 to offset anticipated attrition rates and maintain sufficient resource to the level of tasking required.

Trident

Deidre  Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the annual cost is of safeguarding the Trident nuclear deterrent.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Department does not cost the safeguarding and security of individual capabilities. Given the multi-layered make up of security arrangements protecting the deterrent, overlapping with those of wider defence personnel and capabilities, identifying accurate costs could be achieved only at disproportionate cost.The in-service costs of the UK's nuclear deterrent, including the costs of safeguarding, is estimated to be around six per cent of the annual defence budget.

AWE Blacknest

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to extend the remit of his Department's Blacknest verification centre to verify nuclear disarmament and warhead dismantlement.

Mr Philip Dunne: There are no plans to expand the remit of the Blacknest facility, which is primarily concerned with fulfilling the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty UK national data centre requirements.

Department for Work and Pensions

Older Workers

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is taking to support women and men who want to remain in employment after reaching state pension age.

Justin Tomlinson: This Government believes that there are huge benefits to working longer including keeping active, boosting financial prospects and a better quality of life. The Government has taken several steps to support people who want to remain in employment after State Pension age. In the last Parliament, this included:Removing the Default Retirement age, enabling older people to remain in employment and retire when the time is right for them.Extending the right to request flexible working, enabling all employees with 26 weeks’ continuous service to agree a working pattern which suits them and their employer.Maintaining the exemption from paying National Insurance contributions to those over State Pension age, unless they are self-employed and are paying Class 4 contributions.Appointing a Business Champion for Older Workers, who produced a report and worked with employers to explore the benefits of fuller working lives. In this Parliament, we are working in partnership with employers to improve the retention, retraining and recruitment of people aged 50 and over, by:Publishing a new, Employer-led National Strategy setting out our vision for older workers, later this year.Reviewing the availability of Advanced Learner Loans and the Higher Education student support package, which contribute to the costs of study for all ages, including those beyond the State Pension age.Minister for Pensions attended meetings and events with businesses to promote the Fuller Working Lives agenda and encourage employers to overcome age discrimination.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Cabinet Office: Publications

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many copies of The Gazette at what cost are printed each day.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Gazette (https://www.thegazette.co.uk/) is the UK’s official public record and is published by Authority. First printed in 1665, The Gazette has evolved into a sophisticated online digital platform that is accessed and used by tens of thousands of commercial organisations, local and central government, and the general public, every day.Some notices are required by statute to be published in The Gazette, whilst others are placed voluntarily, to put official information permanently on the public record and in the public domain, including state notices such as the Queen’s Birthday and New Year Honours; insolvency notices such as bankruptcy and winding up orders; legal notices relating to probate and deceased estates; public sector notices; and other notices such as the dissolution of companies or recording a change of name by deed poll.Today, most people access and use The Gazette online. Online access to all published notices (including an archive of notices) is free, and users can easily download a pdf of the latest Gazette and print it for free. Libraries get a free pdf copy which they can make available for readers to view or print. Additionally, printed copies can be ordered from The Stationery Office at a small cost.The London Gazette has an average daily print run of 114 copies. The Belfast Gazette has an average weekly print run of 91. The Edinburgh Gazette is printed twice a week, and has an average print run of 165. The publicly procured concession contract under which the Gazette is produced is subject to commercial confidentiality. A link to the contract can be found at https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive/contract/749253/.

Home Office

Islam: Culture

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential link between the foreign-funded Islamic cultural centres in the UK and the Muslim Brotherhood; and if she will make a statement.

Karen Bradley: HM Government does not collect information on the funding of religious institutions in the UK. If such institutions, in England and Wales, are registered charities with the Charity Commission and have an annual income of over £25,000, their accounts are made publically available on the charity’s entry on the Public Register of Charities, which is accessible from www.charitycommission.gov.ukIn addition to the requirement to file accounts, the Charity Commission, as the charity regulator in England and Wales, can review and inspect the financial records of charities to ensure that their trustees comply with their duty to account. The Prime Minister last year commissioned a review into the funding of extremism in the UK. This will examine specifically the nature, scale and origin of Islamist extremist activity in the UK including any overseas sources.In December last year, the Prime Minister commented on the conclusions of the Muslim Brotherhood Review that was commissioned to improve the Government’s understanding of the Group. The Government will keep under review the views that are promoted and activities that are undertaken by Muslim Brotherhood associates in the UK.

HM Treasury

Child Benefit

Marion Fellows: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reasons the income of the highest-earning parent is used to assess eligibility for child benefit rather than the joint incomes of both parents.

Damian Hinds: If the Government were to use total household income as the criteria for the High Income Child Benefit Charge on households, this would require collecting information of the incomes of everyone in each of the eight million households receiving Child Benefit. This would effectively introduce a new means test. The Government’s approach withdraws Child Benefit from those on high incomes, whilst having no impact on the majority of claimants.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Climate Change

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which authorities she has directed since May 2015 to prepare a report assessing and managing their level of climate risk under Section 62 of the Climate Change Act 2008.

Rory Stewart: No direction has been issued since May 2015 under Section 62 of the Climate Change Act 2008. As required by Section 65 of the Act, the second strategy for exercising the power under Section 62 of the Act (the adaptation reporting power) was published alongside the first National Adaptation Programme report in July 2013. The strategy and the list of organisations invited to provide reports between 2013 and 2016 can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adapting-to-climate-change-2013-strategy-for-exercising-the-adaptation-reporting-power.

Fly-tipping

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to encourage local authorities to adopt proactive enforcement policies to help combat fly-tipping.

Rory Stewart: We are committed to tackling fly-tipping, and as set out in the Government’s manifesto we have given local authorities the power to issue fixed penalty notices for small-scale fly-tipping. These new enforcement tools provide local authorities with an alternative to prosecutions and will assist them to take a proportionate enforcement response. This builds on other Government action to tackle fly-tipping, which has included: working with the Sentencing Council on its guideline for sentencing for environmental offences, which came into force on 1 July 2014; making it easier for vehicles suspected of being involved in waste crime to be stopped, searched and seized; and continuing our work with the Defra-chaired National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group to promote and disseminate good practice in the prevention, reporting, investigation and clearance of fly-tipped waste.

Recycling

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to encourage recycling by local authorities.

Rory Stewart: I refer the hon Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green, Catherine West, on 8 June 2016, PQ UIN 38978.

Waste and Resources Action Programme

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 7 June 2016 to Question 38501, when she plans to finalise the budget allocation for the Waste and Resources Action Programme for the financial years beyond 2016-17; and if she will make a statement.

Rory Stewart: Defra’s funding allocation to the Waste and Resources Action Programme is agreed on an annual basis and will be considered during the business planning process in the autumn, aiming to be finalised in March for the following financial year.

Department of Health

Junior Doctors

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many junior doctors were employed by the NHS in (a) West Yorkshire and (b) England in each of the last five years.

Ben Gummer: The information is shown in the following table: Doctors in Training as at 30 September between 2011 and 2015 in England and Yorkshire and HumberYearEnglandYorkshire and Humber201150,0595,124201250,3185,024201351,0134,994201451,6864,944201551,3084,895Source: NHS Workforce Statistics, February 2016, published by Health and Social Care Information Centre Notes:  The figures include Specialty Registrars, Core Medical Training, Core Dental Training, Foundation Doctor Years 1 and 2. Figures are published in Health Education England regions. Yorkshire and Humber region includes figures for West Yorkshire.

NHS: Sustainable Development

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent representations he has received from Sustainability and Transformation Plan leadership teams on the deadline for delivery of Sustainability and Transformation Plans.

George Freeman: Footprints were asked to make a submission by 15 April focusing on the critical decisions needed to drive sustainability and transformation. The next checkpoint will be on 30 June, when each footprint will submit the next draft of their plans. These will form the basis of a conversation with each of the 44 footprints. We are not aware of any representations on this deadline.

Dental Services

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the mechanisms in place for patients to pursue complaints against dentists who leave the country before the General Dental Council can investigate.

Ben Gummer: The General Dental Council (GDC) is an independent statutory body. As the regulator of all registered dentists it has the power to take fitness to practise action, and investigate any complaints made against a dentist who is currently registered with the GDC. The Professional Standards Authority conducts annual reviews of the GDC’s fitness to practise process, to ensure it meets the set professional standards. The Dental Complaints Service, run by the GDC, can assist in resolving complaints raised about private dental treatment provided by all GDC registered dentists in the United Kingdom. Furthermore, if a dentist is registered with the GDC, the GDC has the power to investigate that dentist, whether they are in the UK or not. Therefore, if a dentist is registered with the GDC and was working in the UK but returned to their home country, the GDC would be able to take action. If the dentist does not hold a current registration with the GDC, the GDC cannot investigate further, but an unregistered dentist, whether they have a complaint against them or not, cannot practise in the UK, which ensures UK patient safety, and maintains professional standards.

Brain: Tumours

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many applications for brain tumour research were made to the National Institute for Health Research in the last 24 months; and how many of those applications were successful.

George Freeman: In the last 24 months, 12 brain tumour research applications have been submitted to National Institute for Health Research programmes and fellowship schemes. Three are under review and nine have been rejected.I am convening a Task and Finish Working Group on Brain Tumour Research to bring together clinicians, charities and officials to discuss how, working together with research funding partners, we can address the need to increase the level and impact of brain tumour research.